Germany are no doubt the favourite going into the World Cup Finals for a few reasons and some of them actually the wrong reasons. The wrong reasons why Germany is the favourite is because they beat the host team, which was the favourite to win it all and they were ruthless with the final score of 7-1 making it the worst defeat by Brazil ever. That images of Germany ripping apart Brazil have suddenly swayed the public opinion of Germany being a greater threat than Argentina.

One reason that people believe in Argentina is because they have Lionel Messi who is a 4 time world player of the year and everyone knows how good he is. For that reason alone, Argentina were a favourite to win the tournament but when you take him out, Argentina still have a solid team but the power of Messi is hard to ignore. He has too many fans and everyone believes he is the type of player that will win a game on his own.

Germany: Consistent and intimidating

In the last 4 World Cups, Germany have been in the finals twice which includes 2014 and were semin-finalists 2 other times while they won the 3rd place matches on top of it. This team is the most consistent out of all football nations as they have scored the most goals, made the most semi-finals appearances as well to go with their 3 World Cup victories. Germany have won a lot of games over the past 4 world cups and some of them have been by large scores over top quality teams that includes this year 4-0 over Portugal, 7-1 over Brazil and in previous tournaments 4-0 over Argentina and 4-1 over England in 2010 which features similar players to this year. They don't have the global superstars but I think it is safe to say that many coaches would pick this team over other teams that feature star players like Portugal, Argentina and Brazil which obviously feature Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar.

Argentina's Disadvantage

Argentina are at a serious disadvantage in this tournament and in this finals game.

The Messi effect: Yes we all know Lionel Messi can win a game but when a team has a star player like this that can severly influence a game, it becomes part of their game plan to suffocate that player. The same can be said about players like Neymar and Ronaldo who had some numbers to go with their tournaments but not all games they were able to shine and were shut out effectively. Messi is going to be the #1 target in this game. If he can't score then it could mean lights out for Argentina.

Where's the coaching? Alejandro Sabella is the coach of Argentina but that has been a problem for the team over the last few world cups. High quality teams and players but poor results. At least getting to this finals says more than previous teams but the road to the finals hasn't been a steady one. Favourites to win their group, they did but it wasn't very convincing. Messi does have 4 goal sand 1 assist in the tournament but the team just hasn't looked great and they don't seem to have much of a strategy other than to not lose. At least they don't concede too many goals but they really need to consider themselves lucky to be this far.

If that wasn't enough, the Netherlands team seriously knocked around their players with players getting hit in the head or enduring tough tackles or hits especially Mascherano.

12/13/2012

So many things are going right for Barcelona FC this season that even a strong team like Atletico Madrid has tough odds against them for a victory or a tie. Most bookmakers have Atletico at 10 to 1 odds to win and 6 to 1 odds to tie. Practically 25% return on investment if you pick Barcelona for the win but against a team like Atletico Madrid, that might not be a smart idea but you can expect many punters to bet hard on Barca. That is the Barcelona Atletico Madrid betting odds are 1.25 for Barcelona to win.

What is going right for Barcelona this season? Almost everything. Their arch rivals Real Madrid FC have lost a few games this season and it has allowed Barca a chance to make a huge lead, possibly large enough that they might have already won La Liga this season! Lionel Messi has set the world record for most goals in a calendar season beating out Gerd Mueller with 86 goals and a few games remaining to increase that lead. Messi is just unstoppable and he is set to win his 4th Fifa player of the year, which is also a record. That goes to show how good the 25 year old Argentine star is. Possibly the best footballer to have ever played the game.

Oh and Barcelona have played 15 games so far this season winning 14 games and drawing one in the Spanish Primera Division. This is the best start in La Liga history beating a few records, one that was previously set by Real Madrid. The team is nearly perfect and Messi has been scoring 1 to 2 goals a game and that's not to take anything away from his all star team, every player is capable of scoring. There is no other team like Barcelona right now.

Enough about Barcelona. Atletico Madrid are no slouches either. In 15 games they have 37 points, 5 more than Real Madrid and they rely heavily on Radamel Falcao who is an amazing striker and is nominated for the 2012 Puskas award for best goal of the year.

Barcelona have a goals differential of 33 while Atl Madrid have a differential of 22. This should prove to be a match worth just as much entertainment as el Clasico!